Taylor Fritz survives ‘severe pain’, Sebastian Korda reaches Dallas semifinals at ATP Tour event
dallas
Fritz survives ‘severe pain’, Korda advances to Dallas semifinals
The top seed will face former world No. 3 on Saturday
February 13, 2026
Sam Hodder/Getty Images
Tyler Fritz won the final set tiebreaker against Sebastian Korda in Dallas on Friday.
Written by ATP Staff
Taylor Fritz survived a tough match and an injury scare to beat Sebastian Korda 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(5) on Friday to reach the Nexo Dallas Open semifinals.
With the score at 4-5 and 30/15 in the first set, Fritz hit an awkward backhand flick that caused severe pain and required him to be examined by a physiotherapist during the same match. After talking all week about the injuries he’s endured over the past year, it’s a shocking sight.
“It was weird. He hit a really hard return, so I had to tap backhand, the way I did [hit it]I think it just stuck my elbow. It was a hard hit, so I think when I hit it behind me and stuck my elbow out, I immediately felt a very sharp pain in my elbow,” Fritz said in an on-court interview. “I walked over to the towel box and I felt it and I was like, ‘I’m going to try to serve.’ Luckily I succeeded and it was a good serve because the ball came back and I couldn’t hit the next ball. It was so intense pain.”
Fritz had healed the injury and still felt pain, but not as much. He received multiple visits from a physical therapist, which he explained was helpful.
“It felt better, and then I started to get some confidence in it. Then I was serving and it gave me the exact same pain, and it was so intense… like I could barely hold the racket. I had no chance of hitting the next ball,” Fritz said. “It was weird, but then I took painkillers and as the match went on I stopped feeling it and I was able to trust it and be pain-free throughout the third set, most of the second set.”
Even so, Fritz still had to face Korda in the final set tie-break, and Korda’s serve was 5/4. But the former PIF ATP Ranking No. 15 made consecutive forehand errors, allowing Fritz to escape. According to Infosys ATP statistics, the top seed blasted 22 aces and saved all four break points he faced.
Fritz will next face former world number three Marin Cilic, who needed just 78 minutes to defeat breakout Briton Jack Pinnington-Jones 6-1, 6-4.
The Croatian, a 21-time tour-level champion, is pursuing his first ATP Tour title since Hangzhou in 2024. Fritz leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but they have not competed since 2022.
